“That Chocolate Cake” has been my family’s favorite chocolate cake for decades. We make it for many of our family birthdays and I made it recently as we remembered the birthday of my late step-father who especially loved this recipe. We found his handwritten notes about the frosting. He said to make sure the frosting cools to the thickness of mayonnaise, and suggested using a hot knife to spread the frosting for a glossy finish.
“That Chocolate Cake” is an old classic, rich 2-layer cake recipe from Scharffen Berger Chocolate. The official name of the cake is is actually “That Chocolate Cake” and that’s the name my family uses as well. We all know which cake we’re talking about.
This is a dead-easy cake recipe that you whip up in a stand mixer, but the unique step is adding boiling water at the end. It makes a surprisingly soupy cake batter, but it bakes up beautifully. Over the years, I’ve experimented with some variations. It’s often my base layer for a Baked Alaska. Sometimes I make it without frosting and instead dust it with powdered sugar, or use a different frosting altogether. I’ve also experimented with some of the ingredients like swapping coconut sugar for white sugar, oatmilk or coconut milk for the regular milk, and even vegan heavy cream. I hope it becomes a classic for your family too.
Ingredients
For the Cake
- unsalted butter, flour, and parchment paper for the pans
- 2 cups granulated sugar or coconut sugar
- 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 2 large eggs lightly beaten
- 1/2 cup canola oil
- 1 cup whole milk, oatmilk, or coconut milk
- 1 cup boiling water
For the Frosting
- 1 1/4 cups granulated sugar (or coconut sugar)
- 1 cup heavy cream (or vegan heavy cream)
- 5 ounces 99% unsweetened chocolate, finely chopped
- 8 tablespoons unsalted butter (or high quality cultured vegan butter) cut into 1/2-inch pieces
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
Instructions
For the Cake:
- Preheat the oven to 350F. Position a rack in the center of the oven. Lightly butter two 9-inch cake pans. Line the bottoms with parchment paper, then butter and flour the parchment and sides of the pans.
- Use a stand mixer with the paddle attachment on low speed to combine the sugar, flour, cocoa, salt, baking powder, and baking soda. Mix in the eggs, oil, and milk.
- Increase the speed to medium and beat for 2 minutes.
- Reduce the speed to low and add the boiling water. The batter should be soupy.
- Divide the batter evenly between the two cake pans. Bake for 30-35 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
- Cool on a cooling rack 5 minutes. Then invert and turn out the cakes and cool completely.
For the Frosting:
- While the cake is in the oven, make the frosting. In a small saucepan, combine the sugar and cream. Bring to a boil and stir occasionally.
- Reduce the heat and simmer 6 minutes.
- Add the chocolate and butter. Stir until melted.
- Pour into a bowl and stir in the vanilla.
- When the cakes have cooled, the frosting should have cooled to the consistency of mayonnaise. If it is still too thin, allow the frosting to cool longer.
To Frost the Cake:
- Place one layer of cake on a serving plate. Run a palette knife until a hot faucet to heat the knife, then dry it with a towel. Using a hot palette knife to spread the frosting will give the frosting a beautiful shine. Spread about 3/4 cup of the frosting over the top of the first layer.
- Top with the second layer of cake. Spread the remaining frosting over the top and sides of the cake, heating the knife again as necessary.
